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Friday, October 28, 2011

HAVE YOURSELF A PARANORMAL HOLIDAY

Love time travel? Crazy about holiday reads? Well, then, I’ve got some great short stories to tell you about, including my latest release, MEANT TO BE, that appears in a new Christmas anthology from VICTORY TALES PRESS.

MEANT TO BE is a time travel set on the last Christmas of the Civil War, in 1864. A young single woman, Robin Mallory, from present day sets out to pay a surprise holiday visit to her elderly relatives. When one of her tires blows out, she finds herself stranded on a lonely stretch of road with no one to call for help.

When a handsome ‘Confederate soldier’ tackles her in the early evening shadows, Robin is outraged and frightened. Jake Devlin is dressed from a time gone by, but what are re-enactors doing in these woods over the Christmas weekend? When the predicted winter storm moves in, Robin has no alternative but to take a chance and trust Jake.

Jake’s presence is comforting, and Robin welcomes the sanctuary from the raw night that his camp offers. But something isn’t right. Once they arrive at the camp, she realizes she’s walked down a gravel road that’s taken her backward in time nearly 150years. Jake is an officer of the Confederate Army, serving under Cherokee Chief, General Stand Watie.

Unsure of Robin’s motives and who she is, the general puts her in Jake’s care. When they are separated from the rest of the unit, Jake is severely wounded. What will Robin do? Will she seize the only opportunity she may have to return to her own time? Or will she stay in 1864 with Jake and take a chance on a love that was MEANT TO BE?

MEANT TO BE appears in the Victory Tales Press Sensual/Spicy 2011 Christmas Collection anthology, along with four other great stories by my fellow authors, Kit Prate, Stephanie Burkhart, Christine Schulze, and Sarah McNeal.

I also want to tell you about some great stand-alone paranormal holiday short stories that are available for only .99 through WESTERN TRAIL BLAZER PUBLISHING.

MEANT TO BE is not the only paranormal Civil War era holiday short story I’ve written. Another one, HOMECOMING, is a sweet love story that first appeared last year about this time in A Christmas Collection: Sweet through VICTORY TALES PRESS (VTP). It’s still available in the anthology, but now is also available in the .99 gallery at WESTERN TRAIL BLAZER as well. Though it’s a Civil War themed short story, it has a very different take and a surprise ending I hope you will enjoy.

Homecoming by Cheryl PiersonA holiday skirmish sends Union officer, Jack Durham, on an unlikely mission to fulfill his promise of honor to a dying Confederate soldier—his enemy. In an odd twist of fate, a simple assurance to carry young Billy Anderson's meager belongings home to his family a few miles away becomes more than what it seems.As he nears his destination, the memories of the soldier's final moments mingle with his own thoughts of the losses he's suffered because of the War, including his fiancee, Sarah. Despite his suffering, can Jack remember what it means to be fully human before he arrives at the end of his journey? Will the miracle of Christmas be able to heal his heart in the face of what awaits him?

SCARLET RIBBONS is a story of lost love regained through a holiday miracle. The hero, Miguel Rivera, is a bordertown gunslinger who believes his heart can’t be touched. Christmas brings him a miracle he never expected; one that can’t be ignored.

SCARLET RIBBONS by Cheryl PiersonMiguel Rivera is known as El Diablo, The Devil. Men avoid meeting his eyes for fear of his gun. Upon returning to a town where he once knew a brief happiness, Miguel is persuaded by a street vendor to make a foolish holiday purchase; two scarlet ribbons.When Catalina, his former lover, allows him to take a room at her boarding house, Miguel soon discovers a secret. Realizing that he needs the scarlet ribbons after all, he is stunned to find them missing. Can a meeting with a mysterious priest and the miracle of the Scarlet Ribbons set Miguel on a new path?A NIGHT FOR MIRACLES is a novella available through THE WILD ROSE PRESS. This story takes place in Indian Territory of the 1800’s. A widow takes in a wounded gunman and three children on Christmas Eve. The small gifts she gives them all reveal something even more precious for all of them on A NIGHT FOR MIRACLES.

These are all great holiday short stories that will leave you wanting more. If this isn’t enough paranormal reading for you, try my latest novel, TIME PLAINS DRIFTER, a WESTERN TRAIL BLAZER publication. Here’s the blurb for this time travel story of good vs. evil.

Trapped in Indian Territory of 1895 by a quirk of nature, high school teacher Jenni Dalton must find a way to get her seven students back to 2010. Handsome U.S. Marshal Rafe d’Angelico seems like the answer to her prayers; he is, after all, an angel. In a race against time and evil, Rafe has one chance to save Jenni’s life and her soul from The Dark One—but can their love survive?

All my novels, short stories and the anthologies I am a part of can be found here:http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B002JV8GUE

I write a mix of contemporary romantic suspense and historical western romance. Here’s wishing you a very happy holiday season with lots of great reading ahead!

10 comments:

Cheryl, I first became addicted to paranormal westerns when I read Kathleen Kane's books--all of them. I love those books! (She now writes as Maureen Child for Harlequin.) I don't like vampites or werewolves, but I love Native American myth, clairvoyance or psychic, and time travel paranormal westerns. Can't read enough of them.

Hi, Cheryl : ) I sure did need this post today to lift my "spirits"--and not just because of the cover "hunka-hubba" mojo! I can't think of a better setting for paranormal fiction than the Old West. Wide open spaces, tall tales, native folklore, a blend of cultures--and critters--rot gut whiskey and maybe even some loco weed to fire the imagination and fuel the fabrications! Add in a handsome gent and a lovely lady, intrigue, passion, and touching emotions, and you have all the ingredients for fabulous fiction! Your books all sound wonderful : )

Oh, Caroline, I love Kathleen Kane, too! I think I've read pretty much everything she has ever written. I love her style and the twists in her stories. The one of hers I think that was my favorite was called something like "Still Close to Heaven" or something like that. I didn't know she was writing under another name--I'd wondered what happened to her. I don't do Vampires and werewolves, either, but I know there's a hot market for them out there.Cheryl

Hi Virginia,Ooohh, I love that cover of the new anthology. Well, I just love Jimmy Thomas PERIOD. LOL I'm like you, can't think of a better setting for a good ol' paranormal tale than the old west. I truly did love Cowboys and Aliens, though I know it really took a hit with the critics. OK, let me be honest here. I would watch just about anything with Daniel Craig in it, but truly, I thought that movie was fantastically inventive and I liked it for reasons other than Daniel Craig. LOL

I'm like you--I truly do love paranormals, but am so picky about them not being "hokey"--nothing turns me off quicker. So I really strive to eliminate the "hoke-factor" in my writing. I think that's one thing I loved about Diana Gabaldon's books--the way they got back through time was when they visited Stonehenge, which to me, seemed logical since that's such a mystical place. I hope you enjoy these, Ashley!Cheryl

Hi Paisley,You know, Civil War stories are the hardest time period for me to write. I think because it's hard to have a happy ending for either side in that time period. My stories always have to have a happy ending. That is the one thing I just have to have. So for me to come up with plot, characters, and everything that goes into writing a story, those set in the Civil War take a lot more emotional output for me. I love to read stories set during that time period, but for me they're HARD to write! LOL Still, the ones I've written have come out well, and gotten great reviews. Now the westerns come more easily. I've got a lot of stuff roiling about in my head--so many ideas and so little time. LOL Thanks so much for coming by and commenting, Paisley! I appreciate you!Cheryl